Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Going the Distance: Transformation Tuesday: Recovery

December 13, 2014 - a day that will live in my infamy. The day that my left leg swelled and I could not put any weight on it after the Miss Santa Holiday 5K. It was just a few weeks after the massage therapist I was working with at the time said to me, “Right now your right leg is leading the dance and I am waiting for your left leg to speak to me.” He told me that my left leg was still encased. What an intention to set for someone but, as a trauma survivor, I learned to settle telling myself that he had my best interest at heart.

But that horrible knee injury and the pain and frustration that followed led me to Dr. Ryan Means who would help me complete what I set out to do 10 years ago when I left my award winning career as a VA social worker to heal my life.

I had not traveled in 8 years before going to Bermuda in January. Two weeks ago I went to New York City and in January we return to Bermuda to run my 2nd CONSECUTIVE Bermuda Half Marathon.

Yesterday I felt a lot of discomfort in my right knee with swelling. It's the anniversary of that knee injury; interestingly enough it was my left knee that was injured but body memories and imprints can manifest in interesting ways some times. I swam and had a great pool workout although I could still feel how my right knee was swollen and painful.

I took a hot shower and flushed with ice cold water. This thought came to me. "I created this so I can uncreate it." I felt this opening in my knee and leg and a burning sensation from whatever stale energy was stuck in there draining out. Today I did the Arc Trainer and Bike and the swelling and pain are completely gone. My right knee had been the site of a lot of violence and was also in an ankle to hip cast when I was 11 years old. My right knee had been buckling and since there were no MRI's or CT Scans back in the day, the orthopedist guessed that it might have been a loose piece of cartilage that could be fixed with being in a cast for 6 weeks -- oh and because they did not want me to miss school, decided summertime was the best time for me to be in a cast.

As I read through and edit "Going the Distance: The Power of Endurance,"

I am struck by how my life has changed since meeting Dr. Ryan (who turned me onto quantum healing). I no longer have to monitor my energy levels and make choices; I am training and living a full life. I no longer live in fear of my body betraying me again; I can trust in my body's tremendous capacity to heal and see myself as healthy, whole, healed and strong turning possibility into reality.

The process of recovery continues. Memories continue to surface and I can look at them through the eyes of compassion allowing myself to grieve for all that happened to me and for me AND I celebrate this miraculous journey of recovery. I continue to experience awe and wonder at how I can reclaim my life despite the horrendous events of my past.

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About Me

"I ran and ran and ran every day, and I acquired this
sense of determination, this sense of spirit that I would never, never give up,
no matter what else happened.” Wilma Rudolph, polio survivor and Olympic
Champion

I've known challenges since I was five years old beginning
with contracting paralytic polio and then enduring nine years of violence at
the hands of family members. Those early challenges helped me to grow into the
woman that I am today and prepared me to take on the challenge of Post-Polio
Syndrome, a progressive neuromuscular disease by Western Medicine Standards.

Diagnosed in December 2006 at the height of my award winning
career as a social worker at the Department of Veterans Affairs, I had done
what I'd always done when faced with life’s trials and tribulations. I got
still and asked for Divine Guidance. It came through my pen, my divining rod of
healing. Poetry flowed inspiring mind, body and soul to heal.

I took a leap of faith in May 2007, leaving my career to go
on a quest to heal my life. The first poem I wrote, “Running the Race,”
foreshadowed my 2009 Boston Marathon run as a mobility impaired runner. I
feverishly wrote poetry harnessing the power of my imagination to heal my life. Eight
years after beginning my quest to heal the effects of paralytic polio and
trauma, after a serious knee injury, I was able to get traction on my healing journey. I became a woman transformed; a woman who goes the distance on the roads and in my life and who embodies the power of endurance.

I am an Author, an Endurance Runner, a Motivational Speaker, Blogger
and Inspirational Poet.

I hold a BS in Communications from Boston University, an MSW
from Boston College and many fond memories of my veterans and their families
who blessed my life when I worked at the VA . I live in Chestnut Hill
Massachusetts with Tom, my husband, my soul mate and the man who has gone the
distance with me for the past 40 years.